Opelika's Wright's Market getting its food further out

Jimmy Wright grew up across the street from the Opelika neighborhood grocery that bears his name.

At age 12 he went to work there, and in 1997, he bought the place.

Now Wright's Market is one of only 10 businesses in the nation taking part in a pilot program through the United States Department of Agriculture to test accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits online.

Among the other businesses are Amazon.com and Walmart.

That's in addition to Wright's Market's ongoing online shopping and delivery program, and the market is pushing the boundaries of how far it can reach into areas without grocery stores.

"Our mission is nourishing families and strengthening communities," he said. "That's what I try to achieve every day. The goal is our business will do well, but it will also do good. I don't think those things are exclusive of each other."

The market, on Pleasant Drive in Opelika, started in 1973 as a small convenience store and now occupies about 20,000 square feet. Ordinarily, this kind of operation might feel a pinch in a world dominated by large chain grocery stores.

"We're not on the main throughfare," Wright said. "We're just basically a neighborhood store."

But Wright's has a loyal customer base, and last August, the store began its online store, with delivery and curbside pickup. Its delivery mainly caters to the Auburn-Opelika area and fans out in a 15-mile radius.

That includes college students who get grocery care packages ordered and delivered, and shut-ins who have fresh food picked by children who live out-of-state.

"This week, we had an order placed from a U.S. submarine that was docked," Wright said. "That's not something that happens every day."

The grocery also has a free 15-passenger van shuttle service that brings customers to the store who call ahead. It's used by everyone from stay-at-home moms to seniors.

The SNAP pilot program, which starts in August, will allow those using SNAP to order food online. The Department of Agriculture plans is to eventually expand the program out to all SNAP users. Wright's was chosen to show how the program might work with a small business.

One reason for the program is the issue of "food deserts." The USDA defines a food desert as having at least 500 people, or at least 33 percent of an area's population, living more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store with access to fresh food and vegetables. For rural areas, that's defined as more than 10 miles.

Many areas of the South qualify. Wright said that's because those areas don't have the population density to support a fully-stocked grocery store.

"They may have a dollar store or a convenience store, but they don't have access to produce or vegetables," he said. "We're not getting any subsidies for this. It's got to be economically feasible. To travel that far, you're going to need multiple orders."

Wright says he plans on marketing in nearby rural areas, as well as offering how-to training on how to use the website. Eventually, deliveries might extend as far as 20 to 25 miles.

But Wright said pushing the envelope of what his store can do is part of the job, which he sees as a ministry.

"I tell people all the time, I've got the best job in the world," he said.